Ambassador Edward M. Gabriel (ret.) February 23, 2018 This week Morocco’s parliament adopted a new law to combat violence against women, by a vote of 122 to 55. Initially drafted in 2013, this law “criminalizes acts considered forms of harassment, aggression, sexual exploitation or ill treatment of women,” according to Minister of Family Affairs, Women and Solidarity, Bassima Hakkaoui. While this may seem like an abrupt leap forward for women’s ...

Jean R. AbiNader February 22, 2018 A recent study by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) illustrates the challenges of proposing approaches to terrorism prevention in other countries whose methods may at times conflict with Western values of due process, reflect local power dynamics that are unique to each country, and reflect how those governments view tradeoffs between short vs long-term efforts to combat terrorism. Europe is increasingly ...

Caitlin Dearing Scott February 8, 2018 In a speech to the 30th African Union Summit delivered by Moroccan Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani last week, King Mohammed VI unveiled the “African Agenda on Migration,” offering the latest details on a new AU vision for migration. Drawn up using an inclusive, participatory approach that included regular consultations with African Heads of State and officials, representatives of international organizations, and ...

Ambassador Edward M. Gabriel (ret.) February 7, 2018 Horst Kohler, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, recently announced his plan to hold talks with Morocco and the Algerian backed Polisario Front. Appointed August 16, 2017 by Secretary-General António Guterres, Mr. Kohler has invited the two parties to Berlin in the near future, and although this is a first time the talks are to be held there, it ...

Robert M. Holley January 31, 2018 In the first blog of this series, I raised the issue of whether the international community had been sufficiently inclusive in its original efforts to resolve the continuing dispute over the issue of sovereignty in Western Sahara, suggesting that tens of thousands of fully legitimate stakeholders, albeit non-Sahrawi, had not been allowed a rightful place in the process. In the last installment, I suggested ...